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May 2012

I feel as though I just got behind the wheel of a car for the first time. Directions in hand, heading down a twisty country road, my knuckles aren't white anymore from gripping the steering wheel. I'm looking out the window and thinking about turning the radio on. It's pretty in craftland and I'm watching for a sunny cottage on a lake where linens are flapping on the clothesline, pals are rocking on the porch and lunch is just about ready.

~ from my first post November 2006

It's hard to believe that I've had that many things to say and share with you. Remembering that first post I know I felt as though I was stepping into a wilderness. I couldn't have imagined how wonderful, dear and life-changing that moment would be.

Blogging here has woven my creative life together in the best ways. Certainly, it's given me an outlet to connect professionally, but most of all, it's the community of you that I love. The faithful readers who drop by to say something kind or encouraging, to keep me on the path, or actually let me step off and feel good about that too.

Maybe you are here for the first time or perhaps you are one who found me on that first day. Thank you so much for every visit, every kind word, every Etsy purchase, every class taken, every bit of advice or comfort. I am so grateful.

To celebrate and to say thank you, I am giving away signed copies of my two beautiful books, Mothers and Daughters at Home and Between Friends along with a bundle of fat quarters from my Walnut Hill Farm collection with Blend Fabrics. All to one lucky person!

To enter the giveaway, please leave a comment on this post and I'll choose a winner Sunday. If you feel like it, you might tell me if there was a favorite post or what you enjoy here the most.

Thank you for asking me up onto the porch and letting me visit for awhile. Time for lunch!

It's been raining for days and the budding peonies are all so heavy with water that they are leaning to the ground. Last evening I picked one nearly ready to open, brought it inside and put it in the studio where the light was darkening. Did you know that flowers sleep at night? Just like us, they rest in the cool darkness and recover the energy spent photosynthesizing all day.

This morning it was waiting for me, fully open, reflecting the soft light in every exquisite petal.

There are lots of pretty little surprises around here.

Places that catch the light (and the dust).

Bits that I've collected. Or made. Scenes that make me stop and think about how long I've been at this.

In fact, my next post here will be my 1000th!

And that's something to celebrate with all of you, my friends!

Have a lovely holiday weekend and I hope to see you back here next week. xoC

We've had some busy days here with visiting friends and the Surtex/Stationery show in the city, but I've made more progress on the Cedar Ridge sampler. Trying not to rush it now and even looking for ways to go back into places and add more details.

Are you heading to Spring Quilt Market? Stop by the Blend booth, say hi to the friendly folks there and see my collection, Walnut Hill Farm. The booth will be full of beautiful collections, fabrics and designer inspirations. Don't miss it!

Mother's Day is my favorite day of the year. These darling girls always create an inventive celebration that outdoes the one before. From the days when they were little girls and their dad stage-managed their wobbly breakfast trays and handmade cards, every single one has been fantastic. This year too. They gave me a lovely day. Home-cooked brunch (and they are amazing cooks!), nature walk, a late lunch out with my mom and a little downtime just being together at home. It was a perfect day!

There was a beautiful new bird guide and a handmade book.

We love our backyard birds and spend a great deal of time recording their visits, their habits and this spring have especially enjoyed watching the nest of robins outside the front window. More on that in a minute.

Erin's handmade book is so dear.

She profiled the nesting habits of our particular bird residents. I've now gone back to read more carefully. But it was the page about the House Wren ....

..........

Yesterday, I was newly home from errands and had just checked on the robins through the window. You have to stand to see the nest and look just right through the tiny curtain opening. We've tried to keep the curtain shut so as not to disturb the parents or nestlings. They looked a little bigger, more feathers, more active. I sat down to respond to a friend's instagram about his robin's nest full of eggs in Chicago. I said he'd get to see our little nest this weekend when he visits. And then suddenly, there was a wild, noisy commotion outside the window. I stood up to see a huge crow inside the nest! And a frantic mother robin doing battle to protect her little ones. The front door is steps away and I ran out to chase the crow away, but of course, the damage was done. One baby robin was on the ground beneath the nest pitifully fluttering through its last moments. The remaining three were falling from the cedar branches to the ground like little pine cones. I watched them scurry for cover.

I think it was the heartbreaking panic of the mother robin that did me in. She flew from each scrambling nestling to the other, each headed in a different direction, as if she could change their path. She went back and forth to the dead one, hopping from side to side and calling to it. I went inside and cried.

I get it that this happens and I know to let nature take its course. On the other hand, I have rescued animals in distress many, many times in my life. Birds, squirrels, a trapped fawn, an enormous turtle, kittens dropped in the road. Even so, I really didn't think I should do anything here. Too many to save.

But I couldn't leave it alone. I looked again and saw one last little robin that wasn't going anywhere. Just sitting and calling out its distress, the mother robin helplessly barking at it.

I got the ladder. And a plastic bag. Caught the little thing very gently, climbed the ladder thinking I would just put it back in the nest. Did I mention it was raining a little? I had the bird in one hand and was feeling it freak out. The folly of all this was finally dawning on me and the ladder wasn't feeling very steady. Too late. It tipped. I grabbed a branch, but fell anyway. I will say that I did not crush the little bird. When I collected myself, I released him and let's just say he got the heck out of there as fast as his little self could manage.

Me? I was kicked in the mouth, kicked hard by the ladder foot. Cuts and scrapes, but it's lucky I didn't lose any teeth or worse. So dumb and stupidly dangerous. For a baby robin (and its mother). Really?

This morning I opened the new birding book and no kidding, this is the random page I opened to.

Erin explained again that robins have a very low chance of surviving their first year.

Maggie came over after work and put the mangled ladder back in the shed for me.

Mo (the firefighter) scolded me for my foolishness and offered to come home from work if it would make me feel better.

Andy suggested I post a sign at the empty nest. Beware - crows and lunatics.

I closed the curtains and got out the ice packs, worked on perspective and vows for the future. Seriously though, it was that mother robin. Last night I saw a robin in the yard, foraging for food. I wondered if it was our robin. Could have been. I'll never know.

Too bad those errands didn't take an hour longer. I would have missed the whole thing.

I never would have known.

Edit- Feeling much better now. I asked Erin if I could have jinxed the nest with my promise to show it to a friend. She said yes, for sure the crow was on Instagram and read that comment, got his GPS and came right over. But, no matter what, here's a huge thank you for the kind comments! Each one has given me great comfort!

Yesterday I stopped by the church to help with sorting in the linens room. The spring sale is tomorrow and Saturday. A little late to show up and help really, but you know, I've been trying to stay away. Can't do it though, all that bustle at the top of my town's main street calls to me.

My friends who work in the linens/sewing room knew I'd show up sooner or later and had a few treasures set aside for me. And this is the one that made me gasp. When I lifted her skirt and saw the little petticoat felts for needle keeping, .... !

Looking closely, I wondered why her bonnet was sewn all around the edges but not the front and it dawned on me that it was for a thimble! Brilliant (though a little creepy when you look into the dark hollow of the thimble tucked inside). I brought her home, found a thimble and knew I had to share her with you. Still time to make one for a Mother's Day gift. Or a super-sweet gift tag made out of paper ... her hidden petticoat could be little love notes for Mom!

I sketched up a quick how-to pattern for you. (Click to enlarge and right click to save.) She's 4 1/2" high made from 2 pieces of felt, the top piece cut without the shoes. Each of the little rosettes is felt also, anchored with a French knot. You'll also want a few inches of dainty lace for her petticoat and bouquet and some felt scraps for the petticoats to hold needles inside.

Whoever made this donated their vintage orange felt a few years ago. Guess who bought it?

Honestly I should have more to show for my weekend. I did have a few hours working on the sampler and am happy with this little tree in one of the grids. I outlined it in running stitch and then threaded another color through the first. If you haven't tried that stitch, it's a quick way to fill a space. Pretty too.

The weather has been feisty- teasing sun and then damp, overcast cold. I go from wanting to build a fire to thinking we should open all the windows and back again. We've been working on our basement re-do. If there's anything colder than painting an empty basement on a chilly spring day, it could only be a garage.

The nicest part of the weekend was Friday evening when the day gave the best of itself to the five o'clock hour. It was beautiful at the river.

Just posted the new sampler in the shop. It's called Cedar Ridge after the neighborhood we live in. There is one lane around the corner where we walk and admire the cottages built around 1920, each a charming little village home. Over the years some have changed with bump-outs and additions, but my friend Joan who is 90 something has kept hers perfectly as it was when she moved in as a bride, 70 years ago. And it is the loveliest house. My favorite.

The rabbit appears in the sampler as a nod to my mother's fascination with a little brown rabbit that chose our yard a few years ago. She would always ask about him or her - long after the rabbit moved on. This year we have a nest of robins immediately outside the living room window in the cedar tree! As I write this, we are just noticing that the eggs have hatched overnight.

The little girl in the door. Well, she could be any of us I suppose. Today, for me, she's our Mo. The youngest here, she's gearing up to walk (actually run) through another of life's doorways, looking farther down the path and taking up new challenges. Diligently training for a half-marathon to benefit the Leukemia Lymphoma Society, she's out most days with her running shoes on. Some of you kindly and generously donated to her fund-raising page! As before, if you donate $10 or more to her page, send me an email and I'll send you the PDF pattern of your choice from my Etsy shop.

I'm choosing the colors to go with my next fabric collection, Annika. It's not quite ready to show yet, but I know they will be perfect when it comes time to finish this up into a pillow or quilt. I've got a ways to go with my stitching. (Still working on the banner for my mom too.) As I make progress though, I'll come back and show you how it goes.

Still stitching (and listening to Donovan). As you know from past posts about this remarkable spring, everywhere I go I find something pretty to inspire design ideas and stitch plans. This new sampler came about after one of those village walks.

An overload of spring flowers to admire around here. I used to grow columbine in my Chicago garden. Candytufts and bridal veil (spirea) too. Hurray for May!

Once I get a little farther into the new sampler, I'll post it in the shop.